April 27 -
It may be a coincidence, but this year the focus of Take Our Daughters to Work Day is technology, and Lockheed Martin expects nearly twice as many young people to visit the company this year as last.

Today marks the seventh year for the event, which introduces girls to potential future careers. The day has been expanded in many workplaces to include boys.

And while it may not make as much of a media splash as it did in the beginning, the event is very much alive, including in Colorado.

"It's not as important or popular on the front pages of newspapers, but I think it remains a very popular program," said Nell Merlino, the New Yorker who dreamed up Take Our Daughters to Work Day, which the Ms. Foundation for Women now administers.

"I meet people every day who tell me stories about themselves, their niece or their daughter," she said. "It goes on all over the place." The Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce has hosted lunch for companies and their young guests on the day for the past five years. About 760 people are expected to attend the lunch this year - the most ever, said Mary Schutte, manager of administration and members for the group.

"Girls at about age 11 don't receive the same amount of attention in fields like science or math," she said. "This gives girls the ability to see they can do anything they want."

Schutte said several women who hold nontraditional jobs will be on hand to answer girls' questions. They'll include Susan O'Connell, a corporate manager in systems engineering at Lockheed, and Kristi Schloss who owns her own engineering-equipment company.

"We're surprised at the increased interest this year," said Evan McCollum, a spokesman for Lockheed. Last year, about 500 sons or daughters of employees visited the plants. This year, nearly 1,000 are expected to attend tours of the rocket factory or listen to astronauts describe their jobs.

Cathy Hatfield, programs director for the Women's Foundation of Colorado, said the value of Take Our Daughters to Work Day still lies in broadening girls' views of work.

"Girls still have a very narrow view of what they can do in terms of careers," she said, which is why this year's emphasis on technology is important. At a recent event sponsored by the foundation where female stockbrokers, accountants and engineers were available to answer questions, girls hesitated to approach them because they didn't know what to ask.

Those professions are welcoming to women, as are high-technology companies. "But the pipeline isn't there yet," Hatfield said.

Acccording to the Ms. Foundation, girls enroll more in clerical and data-entry computer courses than in advanced computer classes.

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